The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently fined Airtel Nigeria the sum of N127 million. The fine was issued to Airtel for acting outside of provisions of Quality of Service (QoS) “013 and Enforcement Process Regulations 2005. 9mobile was also sanctioned for the same offence.
The provisions of Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations 2013 and Enforcement Processes Regulations 2005 law clearly states that telecommunications companies do not have the right to eject any operator from their network without prior approval of the NCC.
Airtel and 9mobile were also sanctioned for imposing Value-Added-Services (VAS) on subscribers who had opted out via activating the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) mode. DND when activated, conveys the message that subscribers are not interested in being a part of the telco’s VAS. Hence, they should not be charged for it.
A report by the NCC however, reveals that some Airtel users were charged for Value-Added-Services. While 9mobile subscribed its users on DND to VAS. The report revealed that the latter subscribed 13 lines on DND to VAS.
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The NCC introduced the Do-Not-Disturb code ‘2442’ in a bid to curb the incessant complaints by subscribers who got charged for the services that they did not subscribe to.
The commission charged Airtel and 9mobile N5 Million each for defaulting the DND, even though the telcos claim to have faced technical/software challenges at the time. The commission commented that they plan to keep Nigerians in the know of the DND code. All they need do is text “STOP” or “HELP” as a text message to 2442.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, subscribers who can prove that their network operators subscribed them to VAS services without their consent will be refunded for the uninvited message received.
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